Roller Derby Returns.

It was an emotional rollercoaster ride on Saturday night as the Connecticut Roller Girls returned to the track for their season opener. The crowd saw some mighty mighty hits, and some mighty mighty falls.

This year’s offseason was especially tough for us Derby fans. It seemed to last forever. The Roller Girls, however, have not been sitting idly. They have been working hard in the offseason recruiting new players and practicing. Saturday’s bout showed great promise for both Connecticut teams: The Stepford Sabotage and the Yankee Brutals.

The venue was The Connecticut Sports Center in Woodbridge. This particular event was a double header showcasing the Stepford Sabotage against the Green Mountain Derby Dames (Vermont), with an opener featuring CT’s B-team the CT Yankee Brutals against the women of Assault City (Syracuse) Roller Derby.

The crowd was the largest ever. A complete sell-out. Not only seats, but cans of PBR.

Impressive.

First up, the Yankee Brutals.
A lot of new faces joined the ranks of CT’s B-team!

This bout was a tough one for the Connecticut Derby Girls. Despite some strong jams that breathed some life into the skates of the Yankee Brutals, Assault City took and held control from the start.

Pam Terror took her spot at the jamming starting line opposite Assault City skater Dolly Foxx. Right off the starting whistle, Dolly Foxx got ahead of Pam. This is especially impressive given Pam’s strength as a jammer.

Dolly Foxx takes advantage of an opening

Dolly Foxx’s quick advance on Pam gave her lead jammer status and an opportunity to score. Foxx’s pack of blockers closed the door on Pam letting Foxx loop around for a grand slam. Assault then put Blaze on the jammer line starting their pattern of a back and forth Foxx/Blaze pairing that continued for most of the bout. The Brutals put Delilah up against Blaze, but as the Brutals quickly learned, few skaters could keep up with the aggressive Assault City Jammers.

Blaze, as usual, skating in front.

Delilah was able to escape the pack before Blaze could loop through, but Blaze still snagged four points for her team.

Dee Nasty and Lady Braga tried their luck against Foxx and Blaze in the next two jams with no avail. The visitors in red were relentless. At the start of the 10th jam, the score was 57 – 0 in favor of the New Yorkers. Connecticut wisely called for a time-out to regroup. Was there hope for our favorite B-team?

With their minds clear, the Brutals returned to the track with Pam on the line against Blaze. She booked ahead and for the first time in the game, a Yankee Brutal secured lead jammer status. The crowd went nuts! Pam kept skating strong, pulling 5 points before being called out for a back block. She headed to the penalty box.

Blaze took advantage of Pam’s penalty and earned in 5 points of her own before being called out for cutting the track. Suddenly Pam was back on the track and in a great show of effort, as the whistles were blown to end the jam Pam pushed forward a few more feet. The rules dictate that any point scored before the final jam-ending whistle (there are four) is blown is considered fair. In that last explosion of effort, Pam added three more points. While the deficit before them was vast, the Yankee Brutals had broken the momentum of Assault City.

After Dolly Foxx took 5 more points, Dee Nasty took in three points against Erynn Go Brawl. The Yankee Brutals were alive!

While the second half of the first period ended 81-15, it was encouraging to see the Connecticut team finding a way to take advantage of Assault City’s openings.

Pam Terror, one stride ahead of Dolly Foxx

The second half continued mostly as the first with the Assault defense pushing Dolly Foxx and Blaze through while successfully holding back the Connecticut jammers. Perhaps the highlight of the bout might have been the introduction of Connecticut’s Your Mom to the jammer line. The crowd exploded in cheers confirming that this may very well be the best roller derby name in existence.

As the bout was coming to a close, the Yankee Brutals had one more moment to shine. With the Assault City Jammer out on Penalty, Pam Terror had a powerjam: an opportunity to pull unopposed points for her team.

Pam capitalized.

Around and around she went, ultimately adding 22 points to the team’s tally. The final score of 141 to 49 served defeat to the ladies of the nutmeg state, but not an embarrassing defeat – especially against a team like Assault. Well done ladies!